Upholstery button construction



Sept. 12, 6 MORTON ET AL UPHOLSTERY BUTTON CONSTRUCTION Filed Dec. 8, 1958 m M 4 7 WQ 1? formic/5 INVENTORS LAWRENCE L. Mamom Win m H. DECKER LESLIE H. BENNETT EGO 7 Km; (3

tates Our invention relates to improvements in upholstery button constructions.

Heretofore, two types of buttons have been used in the fabrication of tufted upholstered furniture. One of said types, known as a prong button, has been used for the purpose of tufting an upholstered surface without regard to the control of its general surface contour and is secured in position by bending the prongs outwardly, while the second type, commonly known as a wire eye button, has been used with a cord both for forming tufts and controlling the contour of an upholstered surface. In the latter case, a cord after first being connected to the wire eye of a button is threaded through an upholstery construction comprising inner and outer upholstery fabrics and an intermediate padding layer and is then tied under tension to the spring or seat foundation. With the cord under tension a tuft is formed in the upholstery surface and the contour thereof is controlled as desired. Frequently, after a period of use of the upholstered article, the cord may fail resulting in the button becoming loosened and ultimately falling out of its position. Under such conditions both the tuft as well as the control of the contour are lost. In order to replace and secure the button or to restore the upholstered article to its original condition, the backing cover fabric of the upholstered article of furniture is required to be opened to provide access to the inner upholstery construction to permit replacement of the button and securement of the same.

Accordingly, it is an object of our invention to provide an improved upholstery button construction which combines the advantages of both types of buttons hereinabove referred to in a unitary construction which is used both for tufting and contour control.

Another object of our invention is the provision of a button of the foregoing type which is retained securely in position even in the event of failure of the cord which controls the contour.

Still another object of our invention is the provision of a button of the foregoing type which is simple in construction, eificient in operation and economical to manufacture.

Other and further objects and advantages of our invention will become apparent from the following description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view, partly in cross section, showing our invention applied to an upholstery padding construction;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of our invention illustrated in FIG. 1 and showing the same just prior to installation;

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the button construction illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2; and

FIGS. 4-8, inclusive, are perspective views of modified embodiments of our invention with certain parts broken away to illustrate details of construction.

Referring specifically to FIGS. 1-3, inclusive, wherein is illustrated a preferred embodiment of our invention, our novel button construction comprises a head portion and a prong member 11. The said prong member is formed preferably of flat strip metal to provide integral laterally extending cars 12 and pointed legs 13. An eye member 14 formed of wire, preferably rounded in cross 2 section, is provided with ears 16 which extend laterally in coplanar relationship with the eye portion 17. The eye member 14 is disposed between the legs 13 with the ears 16 thereof being arranged at a right angle to the cars 12. The head portion 10 comprises a dished sheet metal collet 18 to which the prong member is attached, as will be presently explained, and a cap member 21 over which is stretched a cover of fabric 22 or other suitable material with the marginal edges of the cover being clamped between the collet 18 and cap member 2 in a conventional manner.

The collet 18 is provided with a square aperture 19 through which legs 13 and eye portion 17 are passed when the parts are assembled. In assembled relation the cars 12 and 16 engage the upper surface of the collet 18 as illustrated in FIG. 1. The square aperture permits the use of a smaller opening in the collet for a particular size of eye portion since the eye portion can be passed through the diagonal of the square aperture. A suitable cord 23 is threaded through the eye portion 17 in the manner illustrated.

In the installation of our improved button construction the prongs 13, eyelet member 17 and cord 23 are inserted in a special hollow needle (not shown) which is then pushed through the upholstery construction illustrated in FIG. 1 comprising outer and inner upholstery fabric layers 24 and 26, respectively, and intermediate padding layer 27. The needle is also passed through the aperture of a large fiber washer 28 disposed adjacent the inner fabric layer 26. After the needle is removed and while tension is applied on the cord 23 to compress the padding 27 the legs 13 are bent outwardly, as illustrated in FIG. 1, confining the fabric layers 24 and 26 and padding 27 in compressed condition between the button head and the washer 28, thereby forming a tuft. Further tension is then applied to the cord 23 to draw the upholstery construction to conform to a desired contour and the free ends of the cord 23 are tied to the spring frame or to any other suitable point of attachment. It will be apparent that should the cord 23 fail at any time, thereby releasing tension on the button 10 and control of the upholstery contour, the button 10 can not become dislodged but remains securely anchored in tuft forming position.

In the modified embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4, a separate eyelet member, such as 14, is omitted and instead the legs 13a of the prong member 11a, which are formed of strip material, are bowed outwardly adjacent the lateral ears 12a and spot welded as at 29 to form a closed loop 31 through which a cord may be passed. A collet 18a, of course, is mounted on the prong member prior to the formation of the loop 31.

FIG. 5 illustrates another modified embodiment in which the legs 13b of the prong member 11b, which are formed of strip material, are bowed outwardly as at 32, and a pin 33 is suitably anchored between the bowed out leg portions. A cord is adapted to be passed through the opening afforded above the pin 33. A collet 12b is assembled with the prong member.

In the modified embodiment illustrated in FIG. 6, an eye member is formed of wire into an eye portion 170 with lateral ears which secure the eye to the collet 180. A prong member 1 10 formed of a strip metal bent upon itself merely depends from the eye portion to which portion a cord is adapted to be threaded.

In the modified embodiment illustrated in FIG. 7 the prong member 11d is formed from strip material with a substantially U-shaped portion 34 integral with the ears 12d and disposed intermediate the legs 13d with the bight portion 36 thereof adapted to receive a cord.

The modified embodiment illustrated in FIG. 8 is formed of wire which is circular in cross section with an integral substantially U-shaped portion 37 disposed in a plane forwardly of the legs Be and ears He. The leg portions 13e rearwardly adjacent the U-shaped portion 37 are bowed outwardly as shown and are parallel to the legs of the U-shaped portion through which a cord is" adapted to be threaded.

It will be understood that the prong members of each of the modified embodiments are used in combination with other parts and installed substantially in the same manner hercinabove described.

Various changes coming Within the spirit of our invention may suggest themselves to those skilled in the art. Hence, We do not wish to be limited to the specific embodiments shown and described or uses mentioned, but intend the same to be merely exemplary, the scope of our invention being limited only by the appended claims.

We claim:

1. An upholstery button construction comprising a head portion including a collet having a central opening, a pair of deformable prongs having integral lateral ears which are joined together engaging said collet, and an eye member having lateral ears engaging said collet, said prongs and eye member being substantially contiguous to each other and disposed substantially centrally of said collet, said eye member and prongs extending through said opening, said eye member affording means for attachment of a cord thereto for applying tension on said head portion.

2. An upholstery button construction comprising a head portion including a collet having a central opening, a pair of fiat deformable metal prongs having integral lateral ears which are joined 'toegther, a wire eye member having an eye portion and lateral ears coplanar with the eye portion thereof, said eye member and prongs extending through said opening, said eye member being disposed intermediate and substantially contiguous to said prongs with the lateral ears thereof arranged at a right angle to said first mentioned lateral ears, all of said ears being in engagement with said collet.

3. An upholstery button construction comprising a head portion including a collet having a central opening,

a flat metal strip formed into substantially parallel legs and integral lateral ears which are joined together, the said legs being deformable, a wire eye member having an eye portion and lateral ears coplanar with the eye portion thereof, said eye member and legs extending through said opening, said eye member being disposed intermediate and substantially contiguous to' said prongs with the lateral ears thereof arranged at a right angle to the first mentioned lateral ears, all of said ears being in engagement with said collet.

4. In combination, an upholstery button construction comprising a head portion including a collet having a central opening, a pair of deformable prongs having integral lateral cars which are joined together, a wire eye member having an eye portion and lateral ears coplanar with the eye portion thereof, said eye member and prongs extending through said opening, said eye member being disposed intermediate and substantially contiguous to said prongs with the lateral ears thereof arranged at a right angle to said first mentioned lateral cars, all of said ears being in engagement with said collet, said deformable prongs beingadapted to be passed through an upholstery padding and to be bent laterally to form a tuft in said padding, and a cord attached to said eye portion for applying tension on said head portion whereby to control the surface contour of said padding.

5. In combination an upholstery button construction comprising a head portion including a collet having a central opening, a flat metal strip formed into substantially parallel legs and integral lateral ears which are joined together, the said legs being deformable, a wire eye member having an eye portion and lateral ears coplanar with the eye portion thereof, said eye member and legs extending through said opening, said eye member being disposed intermediate and substantially contiguous to said prongs with the lateral ears thereof arranged at a right angle to said first mentioned lateral cars, all of said ears being in engagement with said collet, said legs being adapted to be passed through an upholstery padding and to be bent laterally to form a tuft in said padding, and a cord attached to said eye portion for applying tension on said head portion whereby to control the surface contour of said padding.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 378,182 StOICk Feb. 21, 1888 395,162 MCGill Dec. 25, 1888 620,712 Keil 61 al. M31. 7, 1899 711,312 Higgin Oct. 14, 1902 1,829,361 Lane Oct. 27, 1931 1,963,318 Wolf June 19, 1934 FOREIGN PATENTS K. 23,708 Germany May 15, 1956 

